Take the money and run: Senate kills gambling age bill

It turns out that slot machines and those ubiquitous Coinstar machines may have a lot more in common than the sound they make when you dump in your change. This morning, Senate Ways & Means allowed SB 6523 to die in committee, largely due to the machinations of Coinstar, Inc. and it’s uber-lobbyist, Vito Chiechi.

Why the hell would Coinstar want to kill a bill that raises the state’s legal gambling age from 18 to 21? And why the hell did state senators allow them to do it?

Well, here’s what I think I know.

In addition to coin-counting machines, Coinstar also has a $5 million a year business on amusement games, like the stupid giant claw you sometimes find near the entrances of supermarkets, enticing children with the elusive promise of a big prize. At the hearing, Coinstar testified to their concern that the bill would also raise the age on carnival and amusement games… testimony which I initially dismissed as silly; the bill clearly defined to which activities it applied, and the giant claw was not one of them.

What I hadn’t realized is that representing Coinstar was the dean of Olympia’s lobbyists, Vito Chiechi, a kind of mini-Jack Abramoff, with strong ties to gambling, alcohol, tobacco and other sin-related industries. Chiechi saw this bill as an opportunity, and he jumped at it.

It turns out that Coinstar has had a running battle with the state Gambling Commission, chafing at requests for financial records and other documents, and yearning to get out from under the Commission’s oversight. So Coinstar and Chiechi had Sen. Jim Honeyford — once described by an industry trade journal as “the best bet for expanding gambling in Washington” — insert an amendment that removed references to “amusement games” from the gambling statutes, thus removing Coinstar’s activities from Gambling Commission oversight.

So today the bill goes to Ways and Means — the last day for a bill to move out of the committee and onto Rules — and it’s “suddenly” discovered that by removing all references to amusement games, the Honeyford amendment may have inadvertently made these games illegal! Rather than fixing the language, Ways and Means chair, Sen. Margerita Prentice decided to table the bill entirely.

On its face, this is an example of Prentice and her senate colleagues sacrificing the welfare of our states’ teens to protect the interests of a large corporation. What started as an effort to raise the legal age on our multi-billion dollar gambling industry, was scuttled due to concerns from Coinstar and its $5 million worth of amusement games.

But perhaps this goes much deeper?

Prentice — a frequent beneficiary of campaign contributions from both tribal and commercial gaming interests, as well as other organizations associated with Chiechi — also sits on the Gambling Commission, and thus is very well versed in the gambling statutes. The bill, as written, only raises the gambling age at facilities where alcohol is consumed on site, and clearly does not apply to any “amusement games” that might be played by anyone under the legal drinking age. She could have amended the bill to reinsert the references to amusement games in the broader statute… but then that would have left Coinstar under Gambling Commission oversight.

Of course the bill’s death must surely please the rest of the gambling industry, none of which wanted to publicly oppose such a commonsense measure, but which certainly had nothing to gain from its passage. Delores Chiechi — Vito’s daughter — representing the commercial card rooms, quietly took no official position on the bill. Perhaps her tepid statements of support were genuine… or perhaps she knew something the rest of us didn’t know? Perhaps this bill has been dead for weeks, but nobody bothered to tell the sponsors?

I also can’t help but wonder what game Coinstar is really playing at? Standing right next to the Coinstar machine in most supermarkets is also a lottery ticket vending machine… could it be that Coinstar plans to be a big player in gambling as well? The Lottery’s own marketing plan describes 18-20 year olds as part of “a key market the lottery intends to pursue”… what role does an innovative company like Coinstar plan to play in deploying new, youth-oriented gambling technologies? How would have SB 6523 impacted its future plans?

Still, whatever the circumstances, it’s hard to blame Coinstar, the gambling industry and the Chiechis for the bill’s failure. It is their job to protect their own self-interest.

It is the Legislature’s job, on the other hand, to protect the interests and welfare of citizens of this state. This was a simple bill with a simple purpose, specifically designed to meet a need defined by the state Lottery’s own problem gambling research… a bill that had earned broad bipartisan support. By allowing the bill to die in committee, for whatever reasons, Sen. Prentice and her colleagues have failed to do their job.

The public policy of the state of Washington on gambling is to keep the criminal element out of gambling and to promote the social welfare of the people by limiting the nature and scope of gambling activities and by strict regulation and control.

It is now up to the House, where companion bill HB 2872 currently sits in the Rules Committee, to live up to its responsibilities, by forcing senators to live up to theirs.

Goldy, even though it goes against many Libertarians, I supported raising the age 21 to preclude possible legal hassles from problem gamblers in the future. Somewhere there’s a trial lawyer who’s gonna think there’s a suit to be filed against the state getting kids “hooked” on gaming as young adults.

It may not be a popular notion with the rest of the Libertarian crowd, but rasing the age may save money in the long run.

Gambling is a white man’s con game. If you are black and have gambling losses, it is not your fault! It is George Bush’s responsibility to give your money back! For those African Americans who have been “disenfranchized” by gambling loses, call Rosenberg and Lowenstein. We will sue for you!

Problem Gambler? Well, This is a “disease” that requires “guvment” attention. And that means big money!! Other people’s money! It is not your fault! It is George Bush’s fault! We sue for you! Call us!!

Back on topic – I gotta disagree with you on this one Goldy. I think if you can vote and die in the Army, ya oughta be able to piss your money away gambling (or, as many call it, pay your voluntary tax on the stupid).

Of course, I also think people 18 and over should be allowed to drink (and buy hard core porno, and do all that other grown up stuff) too.

Mr. X — JCH is a gay racist punk, don’t forget that. One of the reasons his fantasy life is lived in Japan is the opportunity to live his bukkake fantasies, being showered in the man-chowder of dozens of retired Japanese business men.

I say make it 18 or make it 21 — for everything. I think we coddle “kids” too much, and 18 should be the legal age for being an adult…period.

JCH is just put out (deliberate choice of words) because he knows that I’ve been with more women than he’s had hot lunches, and he’s busy jacking off in mommy’s basement to Jeff Guckert’s website.

I own lots of shoes, by the way, and you’re gonna have a hell of a time getting one out of your sorry anatomy if you ever have the balls (extremely unlikely) to show your sorry homophobic racist face in Seattle.

Does any one else remember when the Aryan Nation showed up on Capitol Hill, 6 or 8, from Portland, and the ensuring anger from the gay boys and power lesbos – the chase was for real — the Aryan Nation rancid wretches ran for their lives, pounded on the door of a off Broadway street level apartment.

The resident let them in, held a gun on them, and call the cops.

Of course the cops hustled them out of town for theior own protection.

They have not retured in over 11 years and counting.

All the strange ideas the gay men and lesbians are passive and wimpy is absurd.

Not in Seattle. Stay away right wind bigots — the old days of fag bashing are over forever.

14 As to every drop, well that is sure an over statement, you mean three drops and bad tasting putrid scum. Yuk.

Quite frequently, if you see Margarita Prentice attached to a bill, many of the co-signers will be money-grubbing Republicans. Her seatmates always seem to take the right votes, and are good progressives, yet Prentice always seems to flirt with the right.

At least Tim Sheldon has a defense for his frequent crossing-party lines votes. His district is fairly conservative. Prentice has no such excuse.

Are you, or is someone in your family a current or former teenage gambling addict? You seem to be stuck on this issue. Even most lefties here seem to agree this issue is not a big deal. The “Libertarian” agrees with you, which must make you feel much better.

ConservativeFirst – I agree with Goldy about raising the age to 21 for gambling, but I have a different agenda than Mr. G. While Goldy has liberal leanings towards the issue and wants to be the “protector of youth,” I support the move to prevent future lawsuits. If Big Law can (with the help of Big Government) go after tobacco, if trial lawyers can sue McDonald’s for a little old lady spilling coffee on herself, what do you think will happen once they figure out how to attack the state lottery?

If we raise the age to 21, that might be enough to prevent the lawyers from claiming the state “hooked” younger players at too ealry an age and is responsible for the personal financial ruin, etc., etc.

Basically, I do not want to help pick up the tab for any future lawsuit.

windie – This tobacco issue is a hot topic with lots of folks. My feeling is that the tobacco companies did in fact use every trick in the book to get people to smoke and to keep them smoking. I also know that we knew tobacco was harmful many, many years ago. Back in 1961, when I was 9, I knew that smoking was bad. Later on in college, I went on to smoke cigarettes for a while. Later I dipped Cpenhagen and Skoal. Then I ended up on cigars. I dropped the whole mess back three and a half years ago.

Every cigarette/cigar I smoked, I lit myself, unless somebody gave me a courtesy light. Every pinch of smokeless tobacco I dipped, I did of my own free will. In short, I bear the responsibility for my bad behavior, so that’s my beef with the lawyers suing the beejeepers out of Phillip Moris, et. al. At some point, we have to assume responsibility for our lives and not try to constantly blame others.

I kinda have to go along with Yossarian on this one. People who smoke and get diseases have some blame here. I think the tobacco companies have been pretty much forced to pay up, too, but I think it’s a personal responsibility issue, also.

That’s the problem with the lib’s. They deny any personal responsibility to anything. They think it’s always the Republicans fault or big business. They forget that you have the right to choose. We allow that here a free America. You choose to smoke, gamble, drink, have sex, join the Army, be gay or even make life worse by electing a lib to office. All these should be your right at 18. Also the choice you make is your responsibility if you make the wrong decission it is your own fault. Stand up and take responsibility. For you libs Responsibility means: able to make moral or rational decisions on one’s own and therefore answerable for ones own behavior. At 18 your old enough for this.

A shrimp a hibachi chef tossed at a man eating at a Japanese steakhouse ultimately led to the diner’s death, his family claims in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant chain Benihana. [We at the Democrat Law Firm of Rosenberg and Lowenstein are proud to announce our lawsuit against evil Benihana. We will sue and drive them right out of business! Ms Jules Hypenstein, my asst, is taking depositions as we speak!]

Hillary Clinton has decided to kiss a little labor union booty and get in on the war against Wal-Mart, America’s biggest private employer. Hillary, of course, thinks that it is the role of government, to decide just how a private company needs to spend its payroll budget. The government should determine what percentage of the payroll budget goes into actual pay, what percentage into pensions, and, of course, what percentage goes into health care. Hillary, being the champion of socialized medicine that she is, believes that the last person to be responsible for an individual’s health care is ….. the individual. Now Hillary is very concerned about the health care benefits Wal-Mart bestows on its employees. Here’s your interesting but probably forgotten little fact. For several years Hillary was on the board of directors of Wal-Mart. She stepped down when her “husband” stepped up to the White House. Not once during that time … not once … did Hillary enter an objection into the record over the amount Wal-Mart was spending on health benefits … and the figure was quite a bit lower than it is right now. This is all about politics and kissing union ass.

Wal-Mart’s substantial subsidies were reviewed in a report that found the retailer garnered more than $50 million in Florida taxpayer money between 1992 and 2002 to help finance its expansion.

The report, “Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth,” was published May 2004 by Good Jobs First.

And Florida isn’t alone in giving Wal-Mart taxpayer money to grow while many of its workers turn to public assistance to survive – it’s a nationwide concern. “Wal-Mart commonly seeks subsidies in about one-third of its retail projects,” says the Good Jobs First report. More than 1,000 of its 3,500 stores “may have received public assistance” – to the tune of more than $1 billion in subsidies.

“The question of whether large sums of taxpayer funds should be used to subsidize the expansion of a company such as Wal-Mart is a serious public policy issue,” says the Good Jobs report.

The average wage for regular, full-time hourly Wal-Mart associates in Florida is $9.36 an hour, or $19,468 a year, below the federal poverty level for a family of five.

Openshaw’s department currently has an agreement that will give Wal-Mart $5.76 million in tax incentives if the retail giant meets certain conditions. In that deal, Wal-Mart opened two distribution centers in Baker and DeSoto counties, promising to create 1,000 jobs. Openshaw says wages at those centers are 164 percent higher than the area’s average wage.

Another report says a typical Wal-Mart store may cost federal taxpayers $420,750 a year in public assistance.

The report, “Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart,” was done last year by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

While full-time Wal-Mart employees must wait six months and part-time employees must wait two years to enroll in the health plan, the national average waiting period is 1.3 months, says the congressional study. That study also says Wal-Mart employees pay 42 percent of their health insurance premium, compared with the national average of 16 percent.

“Because Wal-Mart fails to pay sufficient wages, U.S. taxpayers are forced to pick up the tab,” says the study.

Still another report, done last August by the University of California Berkeley’s Labor Center, says that Wal-Mart’s workers are paid significantly less than other retail workers and are less likely to have health benefits.

The Berkeley report says reliance by Wal-Mart workers on public assistance programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing in California cost taxpayers about $86 million a year.

He does not refute the federal study done by the Democratic U.S. House committee, but maintains that Wal-Mart has “good, solid benefits.” Subsidized of course by us taxpayers.

More than 3,100 Wal-Mart employees in Washington were benefiting from state-subsidized health coverage throughout 2004 — nearly double the total for any other company, according to two confidential state reports.

That total is much higher than previously thought. And it indicates that as many as 20 percent of Wal-Mart’s employees were getting taxpayer-funded health care for themselves or their dependents.

The reports are sure to fuel the debate over a labor-backed push in the Legislature to require companies such as Wal-Mart to pay more for health care. Democrats in the House and Senate say the reports show that Wal-Mart and some other big companies are shifting millions of dollars in health-care costs to the state.

“I think taxpayers should be outraged,” Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, said Monday. “They are subsidizing one of the wealthiest corporations

It doesn’t matter if they can buy a lottery ticket or go to a casino, kids will still find a way to gamble. Even if it’s on the back of a band bus to Anaheim playing high stakes poker or just standing around playing rock paper scissors.

The moment a person can join the military (and die in an illegal war) they should be considered an adult and should be accorded all adult rights. Regardless of whether they join the military or not.

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